Towards Sustainable Urban Development: A Strategic Approach

The central objective of the European Community’s development co-operation policy is poverty reduction and ultimately its eradication, through sustainable development and the progressive integration of Third World countries into the global economy. In this context, a co-operation framework needs to be tailored to the individual circumstances of each country. This can be achieved by identifying strategies that provide links in practical ways with how development programmes are formulated and run. There is also a need to promote local ownership and social reform, the integration of the private sector and civil society into the urban development process. These are the main objectives of sustainable urban development.

The Guidelines are divided into four parts, the first of which sets out the rationale for the strategic approach. The second part deals with the strategic approach in practice, in the initiation, design and implementation of urban programmes to support urban development. Part Three covers some of the most important themes and sectoral issues encountered in cities. Part Four provides the tools for developing urban projects as a series of appendices.